‘Speaking up feels dangerous’: Nurses appeal for RCN’s help in addressing racism

Nurses have urged the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to create a programme to help build the confidence of nursing staff in addressing racism, including through training opportunities and accessible reporting support mechanisms.

The call came during a debate held at this year’s Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress which is being held in Liverpool throughout the week.

More than 80 nurses joined a queue to share their experiences and messages of support, including some who reported feeling ‘emotionally drained, fear, and anger’ because of workplace racism and a lack of ‘accountability and action’ when reporting to employers.

‘Speaking up can feel dangerous’

Proposer Ivy Tsetse, of the South West London branch, told a room of nurses that racism is a ‘workforce issue, patient safety issue and leadership issue’.

She described shocking incidents of racism she had personally experienced.

‘I was told as a monkey to go back to the zoo on one of the occasions,’ Ms Tsetse told RCN Congress.

‘I was told I want somebody who speaks English to look after me.’

Ms Tsetse suggested nurses lacked confidence to speak up about racism due to fear of personal and professional risk. She added that many lack assurance they will be supported by employers.

Related Article: Nursing staff ‘at risk’ amid Ebola outbreak, warns RCN          

‘Racism is not isolated, it is systemic and it is growing,’ said Ms Tsetse. ‘Many nurses [experience] racism but do they feel comfortable to name it? Challenge it? Act on it? Why is it that?

‘Because speaking up… risks relationships and risks personal wellbeing.

‘Many of our colleagues, particularly those who are themselves racialised, [are told] speaking up is just not professional.

‘It’s deeply emotionally draining [and] too often unsupported.’

Jia Amada, a nurse from the RCN’s Eastern region, said nurses struggle to speak up as it can ‘feel dangerous’.

‘As a nurse, we are trained to recognise deterioration in our patients, yet many of us still struggle to recognise and confidently name when it happens around us or to us, why?,’ she said.

‘Because speaking up can feel dangerous – dangerous to your career, your relationship, to your psychological safety. [I] know this because I have lived it.’

Following the discussion, members of the RCN voted to call on the RCN to ‘develop and implement a UK wide programme to build confidence of nursing staff in addressing racism, including training, guidance and accessible reporting support mechanisms’.

‘More than 21,000 incidents of racist abuse over the last four years’

The debate came on the same day a new report published by the RCN revealed more than 21,000 incidents of racist abuse were reported by nursing staff across the UK over the last four years – an increase of 78%.

The college submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) to NHS Trusts and Health Boards across the UK.

It revealed in 2025, nursing staff reported 6,812 incidents of racial abuse, rising from 3,652 in 2022.

Last year, a member of nursing staff was reporting a new case of racist abuse every 77 minutes across the UK.

Not all NHS Trusts in England were able to provide data on incidents against nursing staff. The RCN estimates that a ‘more likely figure’ of reported incidents is over 40,000 across the last four years. This is the equivalent of a member of nursing staff reporting a case every 51 minutes.

Related Article: Former QICN chief and Wales CNO among nurses recognised in King’s Birthday Honours

It has criticised NHS Trusts for ‘ineffective’ reporting systems.

Responding to the findings published on the second day of RCN Congress, RCN’s general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said nursing staff are being ‘let down’.

‘These findings show a catastrophic rise in the racist abuse faced by nursing staff,’ she said.

‘It is a disgrace. Nursing staff are the lifeblood of our NHS and social care too, made up of every nationality and ethnicity, coming together to care for patients every day.

‘They are a shining example of a successful, multi-cultural modern United Kingdom, and they deserve better than for this disgusting racism and abuse to flourish and become so normalised.

‘Our colleagues are being let down by health leaders who are failing in their duty to keep them safe at work and by politicians who cynically play communities off each other for political gain.’

The nursing union is now urging health leaders and governments across the UK to deliver standardised and streamlined incident reporting across NHS employers, recording staff role, work area and ethnicity of the person reporting the racist abuse.

RCN states that this would allow NHS Trusts to spot patterns, areas of risk and implement proactive prevention measures to stop future cases.

The college has also said that NHS Trusts and Health Boards need to develop ‘far more comprehensive’ protocols on what action will be taken upon receiving reports of racial abuse

Related Article: Lack of jobs for new midwives ‘being worked on’, says CNO

Responding to the survey, interim chief executive of NHS Employers Dean Royles said: ‘It remains an outrage that NHS staff should be subjected to violence and abuse because of who they are.

‘These figures reinforce the recent results from the NHS Staff Survey that showed increasing concern about racial harassment.

‘Despite the rising prevalence of racism including antisemitism and Islamophobia in our communities, NHS employers and their teams remain committed to rooting out all forms of racism and to taking firm action.

‘Health service leaders across the NHS know that visible leadership counts and they recognise the importance of tackling racism at work, be that from patients, staff or members of the public, to ensure their teams can work in a safe environment.’